The Christian Care for Widows, Widowers, the Aged, and Orphans (CCWA) has commended the Federal Government for its efforts in addressing national challenges, while urging philanthropists and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to join forces in supporting widows, orphans, and other vulnerable groups.
Speaking at its Annual Convention and Exhibition themed Embracing the Forgotten held in Abuja, the Chairman of the occasion, Obadiah Simon Nkom, the Director-General of the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office under the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, acknowledged the Federal Government’s efforts in tackling pressing national challenges, but emphasized that more needs to be done to address the plight of widows, orphans, and other marginalized communities.
“We appreciate the Federal Government’s efforts, but we cannot rely solely on them. Philanthropists and NGOs have a crucial role to play in supporting government initiatives and making a meaningful impact in the lives of those in need.”
The group emphasised that supporting widows, orphans, and other vulnerable groups is a collective responsibility, and that individuals and organisations can make a significant difference by working together with the government.
“We all have a stake in this, whether we like it or not, our families have widows, widowers, and orphans, let us put our best foot forward and support organisations that are making a difference in the lives of these individuals.”
He also appreciated the president and founder of this CCWA for initiating and sustaining this effort to this time.
“Definitely, it is a blessing to everyone. You can see the number of people around, coming from all over the country, and so many centres in African countries. So we believe that the least we can do is to give to support and make sure we bring in our friends to support this event. ”
In her welcome Address, the CCWA President/ Founder, Prof. Deborah E. Ajakaiye, who was represented by Prof. Akpezi Ogbuigwe (Chairman, CCWA Team Forum), informed that CCWA now has over 678 Centres spread across the 6 geopolitical zones of the country, and currently caters to over 125,000 widows, widowers, the aged and orphans in 28 States and the FCT.
” To the glory of the Almighty God, some of the beneficiaries of CCWA have gone on to become successful pharmacists, medical doctors, accountants and entrepreneurs. Today, they are economically empowered in a sustainable manner and are leading much happier lives
“Our orphans are also doing remarkably well and making many inroads. One of such orphans who had lost all hope of furthering his education in order to achieve his dream profession in life before CCWA’s intervention is currently an engineer with an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto, Canada. Another qualified as an architect, yet another scholar is a building engineer, while others are prospective engineers, scientists and medical doctors studying in Universities.
“Each one of these talented orphans might have turned out to be an unfortunate statistic, but today, they are leading fulfilled lives, and in turn are helping build our economy, she said.
The CCWA National Coordinator, Alexandra Nathan, noted widows ate more than widowers.
“I have to give glory to God for allowing us to go through this preparation and to see this day, the D-Day. So we return all the glory to God. We are here because of the widows, the orphans, the aged, and the widowers. Though there are not many widowers among us, because we know they try to remarry after some time.
“My call to people is that these individuals need us more than we know. And like I always say, if you don’t help a person or train him to be a good person, in the end, it is society that will bear the problem.
She tasked the government to support CCWA to care for this community of people.
Mrs Charity B. Damena, a beneficiary, expressed gratitude for the support she and her community have received from the CCWA.
She said her district has benefited significantly from CCWA’s programs and initiatives over the years.
